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  • #2185956

    Win XP on Older hardware

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    by bobmcb ·

    I have installed WinXO Pro on a machine that does not recognize the power down instruction from Win XP. Is there a way to make WinXP display the old message – It is safe to shut down –

    Thank you
    Bob McBirney

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    • #3182149
      Avatar photo

      What exactly do you mean here?

      by hal 9000 ·

      In reply to Win XP on Older hardware

      That you can not shut down Windows or you have an AT Power Supply that doesn’t turn off when you shut down?

      If it is the last as soon as the screen goes blank and the LED on the front of the monitor changes color it is perfectly safe to hit the power button and turn off But if you can not get Windows XP to close at all there is something wrong with the install.

      Col ]:)

      • #3181884

        win xp shut down on older machine

        by bobmcb ·

        In reply to What exactly do you mean here?

        The hardware is AT style ASUS P5A-B 266 mhz with bios rev 1011 beta 005.

        Everything shuts down normally except it never displays the message IT IS SAFE TO TURN OFF THE POWER. Disk activity has stopped and I believe it has come to the point where a newer machine would power off.

        Is there an option or patch to Win XP that will cause it to display the good old message like it did when Win 98 SE was running on this motherboard?

        • #3181790
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          No it’s just the OS

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to win xp shut down on older machine

          Wait until the LED on the front of the monitor changes from green to amber and them power off. That will not be a problem. The same thing happened with some installs of 98 Se on AT equipment sometimes it would display the message that it was now safe to shut down and other times it wouldn’t.

          It’s all hardware dependent as I used the same CD to do various installs to try to track down a problem several years ago now and while different I did notice that some of the hardware would spit up the message and some wouldn’t.

          Just go by the LED on the monitor as when the signal to the monitor stops the computer effectively is switched off but with an AT power supply it still has power which has to be turned off manually. While it’s not something that I’ve tried with XP as most of the hardware was already ATX the same procedures as 98 do apply.

          Col ]:)

        • #3195158

          win xp shutdown – monitor led

          by bobmcb ·

          In reply to No it’s just the OS

          Unfortunatlty, the monitor LED remains green. This monitor is switched between this machine and a newer machine that works properly for shutdown. When configured for the new machine, the monitor LED does turn orange when the computer shuts off input to the monitor so the monitor is capable of doing that, just that the older AT machine continues output in such a way that the LED remains green.

        • #3196139
          Avatar photo

          Actually what you have here is a

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to win xp shutdown – monitor led

          Monitor which sounds to be newer than the rest of the hardware. What is happening is that the monitor is still receiving a signal when the computer shuts down because there is still power to the M’Board and all the components. So while there is power it is getting some form of signal which only allows a blank screen.

          The older monitors handled this a bit differently as they had the LED either change color or flash when there was a blank signal sent to them and you would get a message on the screen when the connection was broken like if you disconnected the Video Lead telling you the the lead was disconnected. At least that is what the ones that I’ve worked with did. The newer ones just keep a solid Green LED lit when they are receiving a signal so wait for the system to shut down and the HDD LED to go out and then just switch off you will not be doing any damage.

          Col

    • #3182106

      Wrong Forum

      by thechas ·

      In reply to Win XP on Older hardware

      First off, technical questions should be posted in the Technical Q and A section of the web site.

      Generally speaking, you will get a faster response and more answers there.

      As to your basic question, yes, on an AT style system, XP should still display the good old “It is now safe to turn off your computer” message.

      There are numerous hardware and configuration issues that can cause XP to not complete the shut down process.

      Older modems and sound cards are common sources of shut down problems.

      There is a good shut down trouble shooting guide posted at http://www.aumha.org

      Alternately, post this as a question in the Technical Q&A section of the site.

      Please include a detailed hardware list and what you have tried.

      Chas

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